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Geoffrey Block, Distinguished Professor of Music History at the University of Puget Sound, is the author of Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical From Show Boat to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber.  The book offers theater lovers an illuminating behind-the-scenes tour of some of America’s best loved, most admired, and most enduring musicals, as well as a riveting history.  In the original post Block challenges readers to test their Tony knowledge.  We will post the answers next Wednesday so be sure to check back.

1. Who is Tony?

2. What was the first musical to win the Tony for Best Score?

3. What was the first musical to win the Tony for Best Musical?

4. What was the second musical to win the Tony for Best Musical?

Hint: This show made its debut only a little more than three months after the first winner.

5. In what year were the Tony Awards first nationally televised?

6. Who has the most Tony Award wins in the Best Score category?

7. What other lyricists and composers (or lyricist-composers) have won two or more Tony’s in the Best Score category?

8. Who has received more Tony’s than anyone else since the awards were established?

9. One winning musical in the Best Score category was the only musical nominated that year.

10. What year produced arguably the most impressive line-up of Tony nominated musicals?

11. So far there has been only one tie in the Best Musical category? Name the two shows.

12. Fourteen times in the last fifty years the Best Musical and Best Score winners were not the same. No less than half of these disparities have occurred in the past twelve years. What are the names of these last seven shows that won the Tony for Best Musical but not Best Score? What shows did win for Best Score in those years?

13. Name the two Best Musicals that went on to win Best Picture Oscars.

14. Name the three Best Musicals losers that went on to win Best Picture Oscars.

15. Starting in 1994, the Tony Awards decided to make the Best Musical Revival its own category instead of forcing musicals to share the award with revivals of plays. In the years since, the Best Musical Revival category has often proven to be fiercely competitive. Name the three winning revivals that first appeared before the launching of the Tony Awards and the four winning revivals that did not win a Tony Award for Best Musical the season of their Broadway debut.

16. The Four Questions: What show won the Tony for Best Musical in 1984? What Pulitzer Prize winning show lost that year? Who wrote the winning score? What controversial remarks did the winner utter on national television?

17. One composer had been dead for nearly 70 years when he won for Best Score. Who was this composer and what musical did he write?

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I wonder if my title will draw Glee fans to the blog. I wonder if the large eyeball will send Glee fans screaming away from my blog.

I don't watch Glee. I love musicals and it seemed my kind of thing, but I couldn't take to it. Maybe I didn't give it enough time. Maybe I gave it too much time.

Anyhow... As you've probably guessed from the gorgeous cover art to your left--by artist Hicham Haddaji-- issue 2 of Shock Totem is almost done. Squeeing, and hoping my squee delights the Glee fans still with us.

I do wish I'd stuck with that show. Or at least watched more than one episode.




Here is the gorgeous TOC for the upcoming issueof Shock Totem.

* To Be Titled: An editorial, by K. Allen Wood
* The Rat Burner, by Ricardo Bare
* Sole Survivor, by Kurt Newton
* The Spooky Stuff: A conversation with James Newman, by John Boden
* Sweepers, by Leslianne Wilder
* Rainbow Serpent, by Vincent Pendergast
* Strange Goods and Other Oddities (Reviews)
* Abominations: Hide the Sickness: An article by Mercedes M. Yardley
* Pretty Little Ghouls, by Cate Gardner
* Messages From Valerie Polichar, by Grá Linnaea & Sarah Dunn
* Return From Dust, by Nick Bronson
* Leave Me the Way I was Found, by Christian A. Dumais
* Upon My Return, by David Jack Bell
* Howling Through The Keyhole (Author Notes)

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We built a tree house
I keep it from shaking
Little more glue every time that it breaks
Perfectly balanced
And then I start making
Conscious, delibrate mistakes

- selected lyrics from Nobody Needs to Know from the musical The Last Five Years written by Jason Robert Brown

The Last Five Years is one of my favorite contemporary musicals, and I've quoted it on previous Poetry Fridays:
Moving Too Fast
Climbing Uphill
If I Didn't Believe in You

View all posts tagged as Poetry Friday at Bildungsroman.

Consult the Poetry Friday roundup schedule at Big A, little a.

Learn more about Poetry Friday.

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When Mike Kissed Emma by Christine Marciniak. Climbing Rose Press. 2009. Personal copy.

The Plot: Emma's life is perfect. Boyfriend? Yep, she has the perfect boyfriend, Trevor. Best friend? Lauren, BFF since preschool. Family? Ok, sometimes big bro Jake can tease a bit too much and little sis Sara needs a bit of confidence, but these three like each other and hang out together. School play? Yep. OK, well, she hasn't actually gotten the role of Leisl in The Sound of Music yet -- but she's confident she'll be playing Leisl to Trevor's Rolf.

What could ruin her perfect life? Getting the lead role of Maria. Which her BFF wanted. So Lauren is mad at her. And Trevor got the role of Rolf -- opposite Sara. Somehow, Sara is mad about that. And tattooed Biker Mike got the role of Captain von Trapp, because it turns out he can sing and act (not too mention some amazing blue eyes.) She's hanging out with him, reading lines, and no one is happy with that. What's a girl to do?

The Good: As I explained on the release date for When Mike Kissed Emma, I have been friends with the author for a very long time. Not only that; but I've read all drafts of the story. To be totally honest? There is no way I can give this book an impartial review, both because of my friendship with Chris and because I know this book, I've seen it grow, like a neice or nephew. I love this book -- but I think it's only fair for you to know that connection. Wow, that is one big disclaimer / notice!

So what did I like? Other than reading the book and seeing familiar passages and noticing new things from the last time I read it? Here are the top five things I like about When Mike Kissed Emma:

1. Emma's voice. When Mike Kissed Emma is told in first person, from Emma's point of view. She starts confident -- and then realizes that what she thought was true isn't. She has to readjust how she sees things; but even with realizing that some things aren't what they seem to be, she still has confidence in herself.

2. Dialogue. Whether it's Emma talking with her friends, arguing with her siblings, turning to her mother for help, or flirting with Mike (even though she would deny that it was flirting!) the dialogue is both true to life and funny.

3. The use of the play in telling the story. On the one hand, it's about a high school play and the drama that goes on around it. It could be almost any play; and any play with a romance for Mike and Emma to play against each other and fall in love. Marciniak makes use of this particular play, The Sound of Music: the dialogue, dance scenes, songs, all are not only woven into the story but also illustrate and illuminate points along the way.

4. The cover. Covers are so important; they can make or break a book. Oh, a talented librarian or bookseller can sell the greatest book with the worst cover, but only if they have a chance to booktalk it. A cover, basically, has to booktalk a book without words. I like that it isn't a photograph; some photographs on books are too bright, too photoshoppy. Instead, we have a boy and a girl, kissing, slightly off center stage. It fits the title of the book; it's inviting; you want to pick up the book.

5. The readers as well as the characters learn a thing or two. I wouldn't be surprised if the readers come to a conclusion or two before Emma, Mike, & company. But that's good; you don't want to spoon feed it all to the reader. A book shouldn't tell them something is wrong, or right; the reader should be able to figure it out themselves.

© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

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Keep that good luck and good energy coming my way, please.

Good things have happened this week. I am very excited, flattered, and hopeful. I'm living in a state of disbelief until everything actually happens. Then I'll probably still be in disbelief. That's all I'm going to say for now.

I have an audition tomorrow, another on Sunday, and another on Monday, each for a different project, all for things in addition to what I'm doing now or about to do.

I'm excited. I'm hopeful.

Let's go!

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As we speak - as I type, that is - I am getting ready to go to an audition for a musical. This is a big deal for me. I am bouncing off of the walls, bouncing up and down on my heels.

Cross your fingers! Thank you! :)

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Many exciting things will happen today, including a shoot for an episode of a webseries in which I am to have a small role and an audition for a brand-new musical which sounds both fun and promising. All of that will come after a full day of work, and I'll follow it up with putting the finishing touches on a new website for an awesome client.

Bring it. Bring it big-time.

Crossed fingers, crossed toes, and other such things would be much appreciated.

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Oh my goodness. I just found out that I have an audition today for a part I'd really like in an intriguing new musical. Wish me luck!

. . . especially because I'm sick. I am congested and coughing and blowing my nose every five minutes. My eyes are blurry and my nose is running, but by golly, I am going to this audition! Nothing can stop me!

(Yes, I actually say things like "by golly." I'm Pollyanna.)

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I'm currently performing in three extremely different shows: a world premiere rock musical, a dialogue-free large ensemble piece, and a staged reading.

Tonight is the closing performance of the rock musical. It's a dark comedy and not for the faint of heart. It has received very cool reviews and great audience reception. Being in the first-ever staging of a production is quite cool. Creating a role is a fun challenge. I'm portraying the younger sister of one of the leads. My character, a hopeful ballerina, is bubbly and naive. I think there's a smidgen of Dinah Lord from The Philadelphia Story in her. I can't believe the show's run has gone by so quickly.

The second show follows a group of toys and puppets who come to life upon the death of their creator. The cast is wholly human; no actual puppets are used in the production. We never speak, so our expressions and gestures are extremely important. A narrator provides voiceovers to help move the story along. I portray a ballerina here, too, but she is more like Noelle of the Nutcracker than Dinah Lord.

The staged reading of Oscar Wilde pieces is a one-night event. The proceeds will benefit the theatre's fall production, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde.

I have an audition on Tuesday for another stage production, and have submitted to a few others for which I'm holding out hope. I auditioned for two short films on Saturday.

So there's your update, which I'm only posting because some people (you know who you are!) have been nudging me to do so.

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Spent one evening taking my Sondheim-loving daughter downtown to see "Sunday In the Park With George" (which I related to much more now than the first time I saw it. All that crazy-obsessive-artist stuff! Hmmmmm....... :-)

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Rise and shine! I'm off to an audition for a musical. Please let this go well!

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Scott, Kieran. Geek Magnet: A Novel in Five Acts. 2007

KJ is the stage manager of her school's Spring Musical and she has one big problem-- she is a geek magnet. She doesn't lack for male attention but she seems to get all the guys she DOESN'T want, while the one guy she wants doesn't seem to know she is alive. There is Fred, her neighbor who has been following her around for years. Then there is Andy, her Assistant Stage Manager. Then there is Glenn, the kid on the light crew who stares only at her boobs and touches her inappropriately.

Tama, one of the popular girls who happens to have a lead in the play is friends with Cameron, the love of KJ's life. Tama manages to get Cameron interested in KJ. She also offers to help KJ get rid of her guy problem by teaching her to be mean. She manages to get the geeks to back off, but she ends up hurting a lot of feelings along the way and also manages to alienate herself from her best friend and most of the cast in the process.

Meanwhile, KJs father is an alcoholic. He drinks every day and is often mean. The entire family is on eggshells trying to keep him from flying off the handle. Her younger brother Chris is a mess all the time and her mother seems to be oblivious. The alcoholism seems to take a backseat to the whole drama of the musical and doesn't get the treatment it might deserve. I guess the point of the novel was to be fun, so the focus was more on the musical drama and not on the social issues. It makes me wonder if it really needed to be in there to begin with, but that's just a small criticism and it doesn't take away from the novel at all.

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Where do the wonderful world of theatre and the world of film collide?  Thomas S. Hischak, author of The Oxford Companion To The American Musical: Theatre, Film and Television is here to document the scene. Hischak is a Professor of Theatre at the State University of New York College at Cortland. He is the author of sixteen books on theater, film, and popular music as well as the author of twenty published plays. In The Oxford Companion To The American Musical Hischak offers over two thousand entries on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers and much more.

There are only two shows that have won the Best Musical Tony Award and gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar in their film versions: My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music. What does this say about the compatibility of the two awards? Well, it points out once again that theatre and film are two very different media. It also suggests that many great stage musicals were turned into less-than-satisfying movies. You might even go so far as conclude that Tony voters and Oscar voters have very different ideas about what makes an exceptional musical.

Let’s look at the champs in each medium. The Producers holds the record for winning the most Tony Awards, 12 including Best Musical. The film version however, which was a scene-by-scene replica of the Broadway production, won no Oscars. In Hollywood, the musical that won more Academy Awards (10) than any other is West Side Story. Yet on Broadway the original stage production only earned one Tony, for the choreography of Jerome Robbins. The Tony voters that season favored The Music Man in most categories; yet when it was faithfully filmed the year after West Side Story, it only won a lone Oscar, for best scoring. Of course the competition must be considered. The Music Man was up against Lawrence of Arabia (the Best Picture winner), To Kill a Mockingbird, The Longest Day, and Mutiny on the Bounty. West Side Story only had to contend with Fanny, The Hustler, Judgment at Nuremberg and The Guns of Navarone.

The obvious disadvantage in Hollywood is that musicals are nominated against all kinds of movies whereas on Broadway they compete against other musicals. Tony-winning musicals must be turned into satisfying films (no easy task, that) and then hope they open in a year when the comedies, dramas, and even Hollywood-grown musicals aren’t so impressive. Consider these well-made but unlucky movie versions of Tony Award musicals: The King and I lost to Around the World in 80 Days, Hello, Dolly! to Midnight Cowboy, Fiddler on the Roof was defeated by The French Connection, and The Godfather beat Cabaret. The many outstanding film versions of Tony musicals that were not even nominated for Best Picture include The Pajama Game, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Evita, Hairspray and Sweeney Todd.

Aside from My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music, which stage-based musicals has Hollywood liked? The only others to win the Best Picture Oscar are the aforementioned West Side Story, the British Oliver!, and the surprise hit Chicago. While none of their stage versions won the Tony Award, they were all Tony-quality shows so it’s not too surprising that they made excellent films and won Oscars. Also, each was done on quite an impressive scaled, having been “opened up” for the screen. Oliver! managed to beat out such worthwhile films as The Lion in Winter, Rachel, Rachel, Romeo and Juliet, and Funny Girl (a Broadway hit but not a Tony winner). Chicago won over the less-impressive competition of The Pianist, Gangs of New York, The Hours, and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Finally, one can’t help but heave a sigh of regret and look at all the Tony-winning musicals that were turned into disappointing films. No one spends much time wondering why Oscar nominations didn’t go to South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, Kismet, Bye Bye Birdie, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Man of La Mancha, A Little Night Music, The Wiz, A Chorus Line, Annie, The Phantom of the Opera, or Rent. As much as these stage works were (and are) beloved by audiences, theatre goers would probably agree with Oscar that the screen versions were lacking.

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It’s Tony season and who better to educate us about the wonderful world of theatre than Thomas S. Hischak, author of The Oxford Companion To The American Musical: Theatre, Film and Television. Hischak is a Professor of Theatre at the State University of New York College at Cortland. He is the author of sixteen books on theater, film, and popular music as well as the author of twenty published plays. In The Oxford Companion To The American Musical Hischak offers over two thousand entires on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers and much more. In the quiz below Hischak questions your Tony knowledge. Post your answers in the comments section. We will post the answer sheet later today.

1. The Tony Awards are named after actress and director Antoinette Perry (1888-1946), founder of the American Theatre Wing. What was her long-running comedy hit, later turned into a successful feature film starring Jimmy Stewart?
2. Name the musical star, ever a tabloid presence for her many marriages, battles with substance abuse, and ability to poke fun at her own image, who caused quite a stir in 1977 when it was discovered that, due to the strenuous dancing in the show, parts of her singing were prerecorded. She won the Tony anyway.

3. Although The Phantom of the Opera won the Best Musical and six other Tonys in 1988, the Best Book and Best Score went to another musical that season. A 2002 revival, which added three little pigs, won Best Revival of a Musical. Name the musical.

4. The 1956 Tonys were the first in which musicals were nominated. Before that only a winner was announced. Damn Yankees won over what Rodgers and Hammerstein musical? Maybe if Julie Andrews—who auditioned but was told by Richard Rodgers to focus on getting the part of Eliza Doolittle instead—had stayed with the production, it would have had better luck.

5. Although The Producers cleaned up at the 2001 Tony Awards, winning most of the major awards, an earlier musical is the only one to win Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, Best Director and all four musical performance Tonys for a musical. The earlier show could clean up again at the 2008 Tonys, in a different incarnation. Name that show.

6. In 1999, Parade was the only nominated musical with a book; the other three nominees were revues. Which one won? Hint: Ann Reinking and Chet Walker channeled another choreographer in numbers such as “Razzle Dazzle”, “Bye Bye Blackbird” and “Big Spender”.

7. What 1950s musicals won eight Tony Awards but was not revived on Broadway for fifty years? When it was, Donna Murphy lost to Idina Menzel for Best Actress in a musical.

8. It sometimes happens that someone is nominated for two different musicals in one season. For what two shows, impressive in very different ways, was Trevor Nunn nominated for Best Director of a Musical at the same Tony Awards ceremony?

9. Four girls and two boys were nominated together for the Best Featured Actress Tony for what 1959 musical?

10. “What worst piemaker in London has hosted the most Tony telecasts?”

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It’s Tony season and who better to educate us about the wonderful world of theatre than Thomas S. Hischak, author of The Oxford Companion To The American Musical: Theatre, Film and Television. Hischak is a Professor of Theatre at the State University of New York College at Cortland. He is the author of sixteen books on theater, film, and popular music as well as the author of twenty published plays. In The Oxford Companion To The American Musical Hischak offers over two thousand entires on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers and much more. Below are the answers to this morning’s quiz. Be sure to check back next week on Tuesday for another quiz about the Tonys.

1. The musical Passion (1994) ran only 280 performances, the shortest run on record for a Best Musical winner. Hallelujah, Baby! (1967) ran only two weeks longer but it had closed before it won the Tony so the award could not help business.

2. Poet T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) won when his light verse was set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber for Cats (1982).

3. Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Mostel won for the original 1962 production, Silvers and Lane won for the 1972 and 1996 revivals, and Alexander won when he played Pseudolus and other roles in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway (1989).

4. The Threepenny Opera (1954). In 1956 the American Theatre Wing gave a special Tony to the long-running Off Broadway musical.

5. It was their Broadway debut. Bosley in Fiorello! (1959), Smith in Follies (1971), Holliday in Dreamgirls (1981), Martin in My Favorite Year (1992), McDonald in Carousel (1994), Heredia in Rent (1996) and Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002).

6. Chicago. The 1997 production won the Revival Tony and is still running.

7. Ethel Merman lost to Mary Martin in The Sound of Music in 1960. Bernadette Peters lost in 2004. Angela Lansbury won in 1975, Tyne Daly in 1990. Will Patti LuPone follow suit?

8. Best Orchestrations. Jonathan Tunick won for Titanic.

9. Frankie Michaels as Young Patrick in Mame and Daisy Eagan as Mary Lenox in The Secret Garden.

10. Tommy Tune. He has Tonys for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Director of a Musical, and Best Choreographer. Harvey Fierstein has also won Tonys in four different categories but half were for nonmusicals: as author of Best Play, Best Actor in a Play, Best Actor in a Musical, and Best Book for a Musical.

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It’s Tony season and who better to educate us about the wonderful world of theatre than Thomas S. Hischak, author of The Oxford Companion To The American Musical: Theatre, Film and Television. Hischak is a Professor of Theatre at the State University of New York College at Cortland. He is the author of sixteen books on theater, film, and popular music as well as the author of twenty published plays. In The Oxford Companion To The American Musical Hischak offers over two thousand entires on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers and much more. In the original post below Hishak reflects on past Tony award winners and losers. Be sure to check back every week on Tuesday for more from Hischak on Tony.

Looking back over the past 59 years of Tony Award winners and losers, two lists cause a great deal of lament for musical theatre lovers: those undeserving shows that won, particularly in a season when there were superior offerings, and the outstanding musicals that were passed over by the Tony voters. Over the years there have been seasons in which the offerings were so mediocre that an undeserving musical won, just as there were years in which too many good shows opened and only one could carry home the Tony. (Actually, in 1960 there was a tie between Fiorello! and The Sound of Music.) So let’s revisit some cases of musicals that were, as Julie Andrews would say, egregiously overlooked.

While no two fans of American musical theatre will completely agree on what constitutes a superior musical, some titles recur so frequently that you can say they’re the popular choices. Keeping that in mind, I offer a list of the ten most acclaimed Americans musicals that didn’t win the Tony Award for Best Musical. In order of their Broadway bow, they are:

The Most Happy Fella
West Side Story
Gypsy
She Loves Me
Hair
Follies
Chicago
Dreamgirls
Sunday in the Park With George
Ragtime

In some cases these outstanding shows had some stiff competition. The Most Happy Fella lost to My Fair Lady, West Side Story to The Music Man, and Gypsy to those double winners Fiorello! and The Sound of Music. She Loves Me had to compete with Hello, Dolly!, the radical Hair bumped heads with the patriotic 1776, Chicago could not survive the avalanche of awards for A Chorus Line, and Ragtime was up against The Lion King. Other seasons the contest was close and the Tony voters’ selection of Nine over Dreamgirls or Sunday in the Park With George‘s loss to La Cage aux Folles is understandable even if most theatre lovers today might disagree. Then there is Two Gentlemen of Verona‘s win over Follies, a decision that seems ridiculous today and wasn’t even all that popular in 1971. Many of these shows were just unlucky, opening in the wrong season; Follies, put simply, was robbed.

Looking at the musicals that were giant hits without benefit of a Tony Award for Best Musical is a less subjective exercise. This list tends to favor more recent shows since the definition of a box office hit has changed in the last 20 years and the newer moneymakers are earning more than anyone in the 1950s could’ve imagined. Here then are the top ten Tony-less Broadway success stories in the order of their opening gross:

Grease
Pippin
The Magic Show
Dancin’
Miss Saigon
Beauty and the Beast
Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Aida
Mamma Mia!
Wicked

Some may want to include one or two of these titles on the first list and only history will tell if they are right. But let’s face it, you don’t see many revivals of The Magic Show or Dancin’ anymore. On the other hand, Grease has returned to Broadway twice and is probably the champ, winning no Tony Awards in 1972 and crying all the way to the bank ever since. It’s also interesting to note that the scores of three of the above, Pippin, The Magic Show, and Wicked, are by Stephen Schwartz. The Tony voters have never been kind to Schwartz. But that’s a story for another time.

If choosing a superior musical is contentious, deciding which shows simply did not deserve the Best Musical Tony is even more fraught with controversy. Traditionalists might argue that the Tony Winners from the past six years all qualify as undeserving. Younger viewers will point to old favorites such as Wonderful Town or Kismet as over-praised winners. Then there are those not-really-a-musical shows like Fosse and Contact that seem to have won unfairly, not because of quality but because of definition. Recognizing that no one can agree completely, here’s my list of the ten Best Musical Tony winners that ought not to have won, regardless of the competition:

Redhead
Hallelujah, Baby!
Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Will Rogers Follies
Crazy for You
Passion
Fosse
Contact
Avenue Q
Jersey Boys

The upcoming 2008 Tony Awards will probably add a title to two or even all three of these lists. Will The Little Mermaid become the next Tony-less box office bonanza? Will In the Heights be added to your “should have won” list? Stay tuned.

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I went and saw South Pacific this week with the fabulous Delia Sherman and Ellen Kushner. My head’s been stuffed full of those songs ever since. It’s definitely one of my favouritest musicals. I’d only seen the movie before and, well, “good” is not a word you can use to describe it. But the stage production at Lincoln Centre is wondrously good. I’d go see it again in a heartbeat.

I’ve seen so few musicals live. Kiss Me Kate is, I think, the only other one I’ve seen as an adult. Loved it! My resolution for this year is to see many, many more. I’m dying to see Passing Strange. And I’m convinced that getting to see good productions of Anything Goes and West Side Story would make my life complete. The movie version of West Side Story is disfigured by the horrible miscasting of the leads, who can neither sing nor act, without Rita Moreno and Russ Tamblyn that movie would be unwatchable.

I’m also a fan of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but, again have only seen the movie.

So what are your favourite musicals? Which do you think I should see if I get the chance? I do live in NYC half the year, afterall. I hear they have musicals here.

Be aware though that I cannot stand Les Miserables. I also really hate the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I’m not even sure you can call it music. I would rather eat my own eyeballs than sit through Phantom of the Opera.

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An Introduction to the Theater by Thomas Schumacher with Jeff Kurtti Disney Editions 2007 This one is killing me. This handsome book provides a fantastic window into the production of a modern Broadway musical with a solid background in theatre production aimed at the middle grade and early teen set. The book starts at the front of the house explaining how the theatre staff keep things

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THE FRACTION STORE
by
Gregory K.

I bought a quarter pound of eighths.
I bought an ounce of thirds.
I filled a bag with seventeenths that I will feed the birds.

I found a ninth of thirty-eighths.
I grabbed a single half.
The sixths and fifths were one-fourth off, and that caused me to laugh.

As I prepared to pay my bill,
Well, that’s when things got strange.
Although they’re selling fractions there, they cannot figure change.



(I'm posting an original poem-a-day through April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Links to this and other poems here on GottaBook (and there are lots of others, because poetry is NOT just for April) are collected over on the right of the blog under the headline "The Poems".)

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